Scratch Vinyl

  Final Thoughts  For my last post for the semester I wanted to write about my experience writing this blog and what I learned as a whole. I’m very happy to say that I’ve expanded my music taste beyond what I normally listen to. I got the chance to explore new genres and ended up finding a lot of music that I really loved and are regularly in my rotation. Most importantly, It felt like a great opportunity to get to know my friends better. It felt nice to take the time to listen to music that was important to them, I feel closer to them as a result. I didn’t get to cover all of the recommendations that I was sent but I’ll be sure to listen to them anyway. A big thank you to all my friends that sent me albums and had a conversation with me about them afterwards. It was great having a project that allowed me to connect with so many people! While I spent a lot of time writing these I had a ton of fun listening to each unique album. I liked looking into the background of the artist...

  Illinois Sufjan Stevens is an artist that I have heard nothing but positive things about. I was only ever familiar with his song Fourth Of July. With that, I knew the first full album I listened to by him was going to be very good. Illinois was released on July 4, 2005. He claimed that this was one album of about fifty he planned on making about every state but this was later revealed to be a joke to promote the album. He covers a wide variety of genres ranging from pop, jazz, indie, and folk rock. Much of the orchestral arrangements in the album was played by himself, recorded through multi-track recording. The album features several instrumental interludes that break up the album nicely. I found it interesting that Stevens briefly considered quitting music altogether after the release of this album. He views music in such a technical way that it has become difficult to listen to music for pleasure. This is a perspective that I never really considered from artists. Being so invo...

  A City Dressed In Dynamite  That Handsome Devil released its debut album, A City Dressed In Dynamite in 2008. The band has such a uniquely bizarre charm that always manages to draw me in. I loved quite a few songs on this album already so I decided to give the rest of it a listen. Almost every track includes little segments at the beginning or end that sound like they’re from classic 60s television or radio shows. After looking into it more, these samples originate from the 1967 education video Narcotics: Pit of Despair. This makes the primary themes of many of these songs blatantly obvious, being a more conceptual album covering the many struggles of drug addiction. The wide variety of instrumentation has always been something I’ve admired about the band. While it might not be for everyone, That Handsome Devil touches on multiple genres such as: jazz, rock, and experimental hip hop, which makes this album especially unique.  Wintergreen is by far my favorite of th...

  In Between Dreams  The third studio album by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams was released in 2005. Johnson started playing guitar at 8 and began writing songs when he was 12, which shows his passion towards music. I was only ever familiar with his song Upside Down , which was a staple from my childhood. I was excited to listen to this one as I have been really enjoying calmer, more acoustic-focused music lately. The mellowness of this acoustic rock album was a major highlight, it felt distinctly nostalgic. I found myself completely relaxed listening to it in its entirety. I can’t help but praise the album for its sincerity, I really disagree with the critics who didn’t like this one. I think it accomplished everything it set out to do.  The opening track Better Together is a beautifully sweet song to start on. He reflects on how fleeting time is but he chooses to spend it with his love. The song contains many uplifting lyrics that make me feel emotio...